Monday, December 25, 2006

Bee Sunning

Bees and other flying Hymenoptera (an order which includes ants, bees and wasps) must obtain a certain minimum body temperature before their flight muscles are functional. Bees are particularly known for their heat-modifying behaviours. In the hive, this takes the form of fanning (rapidly beating the wings, whilst grasping the substrate (whatever they are standing on)) to cool of the hive, or beating their wings gently to increase their body heat.

Another behaviour (here shown) is sunning, where the insect positions itself such that it may absorb as much heat from the sun as possible. When I found this specimen it was momentarily flightless whilst it awaited an increase in its internal temperature.